What’s this?
Ah yes… a sign that my pattern problem has finally sent me round the bend! My Hancock’s got new pattern cabinets (when were Vogues 50% off all the time?) They were selling off the old cabinets, and my husband bought one for me! He even knew to buy the Vogue cabinet, because it has room for the larger designer envelopes in the top drawer.
It’s actually in pretty good condition – just the usual dings, and a bit of rust on the bottom around the edges, probably from floor mopping. I’m planning to remove all the stickers, and repaint it in these colors:
I’m going to sand and prime, and then paint it Gray all over, with pink drawer fronts. I plan to finish with a coat of clear sealant. I’ve repainted a ton of similar metal pieces, and this combo makes them super durable.
I have been having a terrible pattern organization problem – I have patterns everywhere, and it takes ages to find something! Hopefully this cabinet will allow me to be a bit more organized.
What else followed me home? A new iron!
This is the Black&Decker classic, which several of you recommended. It was inexpensive, and it weighs a ton (great for ironing, as it takes less work from me!) I plan to save up for a more professional system (perhaps a gravity feed) and then use this as a dry iron after that. In the meantime it will work just fine for me! It doesn’t steam at lower settings, and with an all metal sole it has a bit more drag, but I find that the weight (and, I can’t lie, the vintage charm) make up for that!
Green apples - Stitchywitch Creates 
I have that iron! Love it — my mom got the same one in 1967, so it was the one I grew up with, and when I went off and needed my own, I was delighted to find it still in production. Good choice!
neato! I can’t wait to see your new drawers. 🙂
I’m so jealous of your new cabinet!!! I finally organized my patterns, but they’re in recycled boxes that my online shopping orders were delivered in…
Ha! Those are my school colours!
Nice! Can’t wait to see what happens to the drawers!
Great drawer find! How cool to have your own official pattern cabinet!
Can’t wait to see the cabinet finished. I love looking through all of your dresses. Nice to see another knitting and sewing blog!
How lovely! Isn’t it nice when our hubbys know us so well? Mine got me a subscription to Burda Style, and I am so excited about receiving my first issue!!
Love the cabinet. Question: does the iron have an auto shut-off? I know it’s meant to be a safety feature, but when I’m sewing, and the iron’s gone cold it makes me crazy. The iron I have now was my mother’s. I’m sure that it is at least 25 years old. It does not have the auto shut-off, but I fear that when the day comes that I must buy a new iron, there will not be one w/o auto shut-off available at all. Surely professional grade irons don’t shut themselves off!
Wow-genuine pattern cabinets! That is SO funny, but will be extremely useful, I’m sure.
I’ve never thought of getting one of those pattern cabinets. Great find! Now I’m going to be obsessed with keeping an eye out for a used one.
I hope you do an iron review after you’ve had it for a few months. I’m on the lookout for a new iron myself and I would love to know how you like yours.